One construction of buffing pad commonly used in the automobile trade comprises a web of non-woven fibers. The attachment surface of the back-up pad of buffing apparatus, such as rotary and orbital buffers, is provided with a multiplicity of projecting, resiliently-flexible filaments bearing at the distal end thereof a bulbous substantially semi-spherical head or hook. This surface is commonly referred to as a hook-face attachment surface. When the buffing pad is placed against the attachment surface the head or hooks of the attachment surface mechanically interlock with the non-woven fibers of the pad to secure the pad in position. As such, this type of buffing pad has found great favor by allowing the user to easily reposition the pad or remove it entirely for replacement.
It has been found that commercially available buffing pads manufactured from thick fibers having a caliper of about 17 dtex while providing good adhesion to the back-up pad and good buffing properties for use on original automotive equipment manufacture painted surfaces tend to be too aggressive when used on other paint surfaces, e.g., the softer after-market air-dried or low-bake paints normally used in body repair shops. Buffing pads formed from finer fibers, e.g., having a dtex of 6.7, while proving acceptable for use with softer paint finishes are found to have a poor adhesion for the hook-face attachment surfaces of the back-up pad and are often displaced during use.